Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by BrewMonkey:

Pours light amber with orange highlights and a good deal of tight off-white head that stands up fairly well.

Mostly malty aroma with some sweetness, with hints of spicy hops. Some metallic aroma also.

Suprisingly reserved malt profile in the taste compared to the aroma. Very light, almost watery malt backbone gives way quickly to clean spicy hop bitterness. Very little if no sweetness, metalic flavor follows the aroma. Good deal of bitterness, but very little hop flavor, or malt flavor for that matter.

I don't know, I kinda feel like these reviews are better maybe because compared to Bud or Bud light, this tastes great. But it's not exactly flavorful either. Its very clean, very easy to drink, has some hints of malt character and decent bittering, but that aside, there really is not much too it, fairly average.

More User Reviews:

I admit I was a little intrigued by the thought of A-B making an "American" pale ale,but it was what I thought it might be.Poured with good clarity into a standard pint glass a medium copper/amber with a thinner wispy white head that was gone quickly.Aromas are toasty with some caramel sweetness,the cascade hops are pretty non existant except for a passing citric note but its faint.Thinner mouthfeel but its not overly bad,it gets smoother as I drink more.Flavors are a little grainy and pretty toasted,a caramel sweetness really shows through makeing it the most dominant feature in the flavor profile,the hops are very subdued,almost void.Eh it may lead some macro drinkers to better beer but I doubt it because this is so subdued,but its better than macro lager swill.

Appearance - This is a brownish-bronze in color with a modest head that showed little retention. The beer is very clear.

Smell - The aromas here are very light. I can pick up some decent-smelling malt-flavored taffy and a light grain but otherwise it's hard to find anything of substance.

Taste - The malt thankfully picks things up at the taste. It provided a solid base that even has some toasty character to it. It's more like toasted whole grain bread than anything else.

Mouthfeel - This is light-bodied as you'd expect from AB but with some solid, leafy bitter notes.

Drinkability - This is a fairly quaffable brew as far as Budweisers go. It's somewhat dry in the mouth which keeps you drinking and there's really nothing horrendous about the flavor that makes you want to never buy again.

Granted my sights were set a bit low here to begin with, but I'll prbably finish the bomber. Oh, and for all you college kids out there, this is over 5%, almost as much alcohol as in Bud Ice but a hell of a lot better tasting.

A: Nice deep reddish amber. Fluffy big 2 finger head with good retention. Some sparse spotty lacing. No surprise that it is a good looking beer.

S: Bready malt and a touch of floral hop. Nothing to write home about.

T: Weak. Flavors don't come through strongly - maybe deliberately for drinkability purposes but disappointing. There is a promise of caramel malt that never comes - hops are even weaker. Too much of that seltzer type watery taste. There is not even much of an aftertaste - a bit bready.

M: Nice, light body and crisp. Plenty of carbonation that isn't too aggressive. Feels real easy in the mouth. I am sure it is designed with pounding in mind.

D: You could session this until the cows come home but I wouldn't want to. It's a beer that is over-engineered and yet it is scared to deliver on basic bold flavors. It's not a bad beer and I think I would drink it at a bar before other macro choices. These guys have a long way to go before they attract craft beer lovers. Seems non-committal enough to be a good transitional to ale brews for an existing Bud drinker - maybe that's their thought?

I guess my expectations weren't too high for this beer, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. In my pint glass it was a cherry amber color with a thick tan head that dissipated quickly. There was a minimal amount of lacing present. A faint citrus aroma. Sweet malt taste with a late hops presence. Maybe a little bit on the mild side, but not a bad beer.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: The body had a beautiful reddish, medium amber color with a small just off white colored head. The clarity is good and head fades down quickly to a very thin covering that barely hangs on.

Smell: The aroma had a pleasant but mild citrus and piney hop character.

Taste/Mouth feel: The flavor has a modest malt flavor with lightly toasted grain and light caramel notes. The balance leans in favor of the hops which bring mild pine and citrus notes to the mix. Hop bitterness is very mild and finishes clean. Its texture is smooth with average carbonation and it has a light to medium body, making it refreshing and highly drinkable.

Notes: Overall I would say that this is about what I had expected from Budweiser although I would have liked a little more solid malt character and body.

Pours a crystal clear, light amber color with a fantastic frothy head that retains very well. Surprise, Surprise. Smells fairly sweet, grains, fairly malty, pretty pleasant actually...nothing too strong. Taste is of light malted barley, grains, finishing with a mild hop presence. The flavor is pretty thin but there arent any off flavors. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, not overly carbonated like the lager, and crisp. Very drinkable I'd say and vastly superior to the Macro Lager they are so well known for. A step in the right direction anyway.

12 ouncer from a six pack costing $6.99 at Peekskill bev, Peekskill, NY...pours clear copper saturated amber, dark oatmeal loose bubble head and leaves plenty of ringed sheeting and then plenty of fine lacing. I just pick up malt in the nose. NOthing too exciting going on here, just a decent, sessionable amber, with mostly malt, and then late drying hops...cascadelike hops come in late to dry things out quite a bit...in the same league as tons of other middle of the road amber ales. Could be put to use in a marinade, or a beer to try out on micro beer newbies..

Opened 12 Fl. ounce brown bottle and poured into Nonic tumbler. Opening of bottle was delayed as (I didn't realize that Budweiser would use anything but a twist-top. After bandaging crown-cap ripped hand and call dental clinic about teeth, bottle opener was obtained and bottle properly breached.)

Pours a frothy cream colored head atop a dark amber clear brew. Head measured about 2" that dissipated to about ¼" leaving lace on sides of glass.

Smell as pouring was a sweet maple like smell, but no further maple smell was noticed on evaluation. Smell of light malts obtained, otherwise subdued. Taste is clean but sort of plain. It does have a nice body to it and is filling on the palate, however, carbonation seams a bit high. Well balanced alcohol for a 5.1% brew. Finish is nice and slightly hoppy leaving a lingering but pleasant aftertaste.

When I first heard about American Ale, I laughed, but I will honestly say that it turned out better than I expected and while I am not 100% sold on it, I applaud A-B on its efforts to reach out to those of us that want something different than their most popular product.

In 1996 there was a brewpub and microbrewery boom. It seemed to me that breweries were popping up like the endlessly repeating backgrounds in a cheesy Hannah Barbera cartoon; amber, pale, blonde, stout, amber, pale, blond, stout. The Budweiser American Ale, for all its hoopla and advertised uniqueness is really just a solid amber ale that would have fit right in with the ever growing generic brewpubs of the mid-90's. The King has some catching up to do. Bud Am Ale is a sweetish crystal-malt laden ale that taste a bit like beginner kit-made homebrew. No real faults, but no life or luster either.

Finally found a single of this beer to try. It's like a scab that needs picked at. I honestly hope this beer is decent,living in WV this could be a nice alternative to the BMC beers avalible at my local bars. Here's hoping for the best.

Poured a 12oz bottle into a nonic glass Damn i nearly ripped flesh of my thumb trying to twist off the cap,it's crimmped on. Hopefully a good sign. Poured a nice very clear medium amber/coppery color with very few bubbles rising with a nice very creamy bone white head sprouting up with decent retention leaving a few nice curtians of lace down the glass.

Clean tasting with light sweet candied maltiness with a touch of fruitiness with a peach/pear taste. Good balance with a crisp light pleasing citrusy finish. Leaves some nice tart fruitiness with lots of peach and pears tastes lingering with a touch of citrus. Yes, this does have drinkability, a pleasant suprized from A-B and no strange aftertastes either.

Pours a deep golden amber/red with a decent one finger fluffy off white head. Nose has that BMC twang to it, no real hops or anything to it.

Mouthfeel is very light and watery and it has a similar taste as many other BMC beers, however it does have some light maltiness to it that most macro lagers lack. It says there's a hoppy finish but I detect no hops. Decent drinkability, much better than other BMC but that's not saying much.

appearance: beer is a clear darkish amber. Head is off white with decent retention.

smell I get the typical lager smell I was hoping I would not. Throw in a little sweet carmel but not much.

Taste Sweet start that is really watered down in my opinion. Finishes a littler bitter but nothing close to a good quality amber. Weak not a strong beer. A bit of dish soap taste as well. Sorry I was hoping for more. Truly easy to say its mass produced.

mouthful: Light bodied but for this class to light.

drinkability A tweener for me. Better than a regular bud lager but nothing compared to a really good ale.

Copper colored with a foamy, somewhat chunky head that lingers long. Streams of fine bubbles rise quickly from bottom to top.

Aroma of bready malt, some cinnamon, and some citrusy and floral hops. Nice balance of hops and malt.

I was impressed up until now. Flavor is not as good as I had hoped follwing the surprisingly good nose. Initially watery, followed by a mild flavor of sweetish malt, and a rough burnt flavor, morphing to metallic. The hops have disappeared.

Mouthfeel is moderate to thin, a bit bubbly. A bit watery. Definitely better than regular Bud, and I would drink it if offered, but will not seek this out.

m/d- felt good in the mouth, easy to drink for an ale. prob one of the best in the bud line-up. i would drink on tap if i had nothing else to choose from. i would recommend for people to try if they haven't.

As usual, Budweiser knows how to make a professional looking beer, nice amber appearance, good off white head on it, with pretty impressive retention. Is that? No, can't be. . . it, is. . . I smell hops, and maybe even Cascade hops? In a discernable quantity? Not bad, in fact, dare I say. . .good, or at least average for a style dominated by craft breweries?

Taste of caramel and crystal malt, more hops, not going to blow anyone away with the hop level, except for maybe dedicated BL drinkers. Not a huge mouthfeel, this really is a great gateway beer to better things for a lot of people.

Sure, some of the reviewers will automatically poo poo this beer. But its undeserved. They made a good thing, this tastes very similar to Bud's Pacific Ridge Pale Ale a decade or so back that was made at the Fairfield, CA brewery, a blatant attempt to do something like SNPA. Hey, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

I was pumping my gas today and I saw the Bud Light truck roll in to the parking lot. As I was walking into the store I saw the delievery guy and asked if he wasy delivering any Budweiser American Ale. With a disgusted look he said "Did you try it yet?". Followed that by saying he would have saved me some money, but he ran out of free samples on Friday. Needless to say he told me he didn't like it and I explained to him that I drink different beers. Well you might like it I thought it sucked.

Anyways nice labels and thick glass bottles with pry off tops, holy shit I haven't had a bud product with a pry off top as long as I can remember. Definitely aimed at us beergeeks, pours a clear amber body with a nice textured thick light kahki head, after each sip leaves behind thin uneven lacing. 0251 is etched on all of my neck labels in my sixer, what happened to the born on date?

Aromatics are really pleasant with light but evident hop notes rolling with citrus and mild pine character. Fruity caramel malts blend in with the herbal notes of the hops. Bread and biscuit malt present a great overall balance in the nose.

Flavors althought not as agressive in the hop bitterness as I regularly enjoy, the hop flavor and bitterness are solid here. I'm not thinking terrible like I was expecting, instead this is decent well rounded hoppy amber ale. Not a homerun but a good start for showing us craft beer drinkers that the big guys can do it to. Most of the Michelob has been either really so so or really shitty. This brew is solid hop flavors include citrus and floral notes but the caramel sweet malt finish really brings it altogether. Can't even compare this with a SNPA or other more mainstream crafts like Sam Adams this is it's own beast. Go and try it form your own opinion, it was $6.99 a sixer. I can't wait until the 22s come out it will be a nice every once in awhile brew when access is limited to craft offerings.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied smooth carbonation never cloying easy going on the palate. Solid all around never thought that would be the case.

Drinkability is effortless three down without a problem, flavorful and easy drinking definitely nothing here that makes me not want another. Solid all around good brew by the big boys, could it be better of course. But throwing their flagship Budweiser on a hoppy ale this was a ballsy mover, I think most people's reactions will be like their own delivery guy. He just didn't get it by the way if your in the area only Kroger and Reisbeck's in Wintersville, OH are carrying it right now. Nobody else in Wintersville ordered based on the free samples last week.